1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to all terrain vehicles.
2. Related Art
All terrain vehicles (hereinafter “ATV”) typically have a short wheelbase which gives the ATV increased maneuverability and transportability over their counterpart recreational vehicles such as sandrails or a dune buggies. The shorter wheelbase, however, has an unattractive feature that is not shared by recreational vehicles with a wider wheelbase. Historically, ATVs with a shorter wheelbase require that the ATV occupancy area be raised to accommodate the decreased amount of space between the wheels. By raising the occupancy area, the center of gravity of the ATV is also raised. The result of a higher center of gravity is a decrease in vehicle stability and subsequent increased risk of rollovers.
Recreational vehicles such as sandrails and dune buggies with wider wheelbases are able to accommodate vehicle occupants lower in the vehicle plane and hence have a lower center of gravity. Thus, these types of vehicles share a smaller risk of rollover than their counterpart ATVs. As noted above, however, the wider wheelbase decreases the vehicles maneuverability as well as the ability to transport the recreational vehicle in the back of a standard pick up truck bed.
It would be advantageous to combine the attractive features of the lower center of gravity vehicles with the attractive features of the shorter wheelbase wheelbase vehicles such that the resultant ATV has the increased maneuverability and transportability of a smaller ATV and the lower center of gravity and resultant enhanced stability of the vehicles with the wider wheelbases.